Can you describe what you will be talking about during your presentation at the BAPCO 2025 Annual Event. Why is it an important topic?
Warwickshire Police is executing an ambitious strategy to transform its digital capabilities, with a particular focus on ensuring these advances create tangible improvements in frontline service delivery. Central to this transformation is our in-house developed Nexus mobile platform, which is changing how officers interact with and access data in the field.
Nexus has been built using common technologies but represents more than just another mobile application - it's a comprehensive platform and ecosystem that enables rapid development of targeted solutions. This approach, supported by our sophisticated and scalable data infrastructure, allows us to be highly responsive to operational needs.
While mobile applications are common across forces, our distinctive in-house approach provides unprecedented flexibility and control. We've developed a full lifecycle methodology that emphasises workforce engagement, solution prioritisation, and effective business change management. This comprehensive approach helps bridge the often-seen gap between the promise of technological change and the actual experience of frontline officers
What do you see as being the big issues and challenges for the sector over the next five years? How does what you’re speaking about relate to this?
The dominant challenge facing our sector is to find a sustainable way to meet rising complex demand within the expected resource constraints. Technology is widely seen as the primary lever to address this, but implementing technology alone isn't enough.
This leads to our second major challenge, which is the growing gap between what technology can offer and actual business adoption. A dizzying array of solutions get pitched daily and the sector is littered with examples where large-scale digital transformation has not always led to tangible business benefits.
The mantra of ‘do it once well’ when it comes to technology adoption across the sector is hard to disagree with and no doubt the right approach, but our history in delivering large scale IT programmes serves an important note of caution.
In developing Nexus, we are very conscious of what capabilities are best developed and delivered locally and how this links in with the wider technology landscape. Our focus remains on delivering value quickly for the end user and building lasting organisational flexibility.
What will likely be the most transformative development over the next five years in terms of the technology? What will that mean for user operations, as well as the broader market?
My colleagues will not be surprised that I think artificial intelligence will be the most transformative technology over the next five years, While there's undoubtedly hype in this space, the pace of change is accelerating faster than many predict, and this will have a fundamental and profound impact on policing.
The national AI board's framework effectively captures where this transformation will occur - improving productivity, increasing police effectiveness, and responding to the criminal threat.
The opportunities are immense, but so too are the risks of missteps. This isn't just an IT initiative, it requires engagement from every level of policing to navigate successfully. We're already seeing early impacts and impressive proof of concepts, but I think these are just the beginning. In the coming years, all aspects of policing will be touched, and it has the potential to fundamentally re-shape how we deliver our services.
However, we must approach this transformation thoughtfully. Success requires robust governance frameworks around ethics, transparency, and public trust. Crucially, we can't lose sight of the fundamentals - data quality, standards, and security become more critical, not less, as AI capabilities expand.
Forces that invest in these foundations now will be best positioned to harness AI's potential while maintaining public confidence and operational integrity
What key messages or take-home points would you like people to get from your session? What will be most useful to them from a practical point of view?
Warwickshire digital transformation is quite a unique journey as we rebuilt our entire infrastructure form scratch at pace. This experience has no doubt shaped our thinking and approach.
The focus on execution, adoption and user experience has been a real priority for us and I hope this comes through. We are a relatively small police force but have prioritised in-house investment right across the lifecycle of change and this has been an important enabler to land major projects. Having both the fundamentals in place and the flexibility to respond to further opportunities is critical.
Which conference sessions are you most looking forward to seeing?
Given what I have said previously, I have no doubt the various sessions that touch on AI will be of interest. Also be good to hear about ESN and how forces best plan for this.
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